Letters

There has been a change in the tone of Morgan Griffith’s newsletters, which might be attributed to the fact that he has a serious challenger in Anthony Flaccavento.
Usually, he muses about a wide range of subjects, but he has a dearth of substantive accomplishments to tout.

How do you know when you’re old enough to know better? God, common sense and honesty.
God gave us 10 commandments and his son preached them. Too many false profits and holy-rollers love to mislead us. The 10 commandments are all you need.
Common sense is understanding and realizing if someone is telling the truth or simply after their vote.
Three excellent examples of difference in political parties:
1. Democrats gave us Social Security in 1935. For over 80 years, Republicans have tried to take it away. They are talking about it now.

By voting on Nov. 6, we the everyday people of the 9th Congressional District have the opportunity to make a choice of going along with the rich and powerful or standing up for legislation to meet the needs of the working class in this district and the USA.
For eight years with Morgan Griffith as our representative, our economy has stagnated. Many talented youth leave this area to find appropriate jobs elsewhere. Our health insurance premiums and prescription drug prices continually increase.

In 1966, I came to live and work in Southwest Virginia. Since then I’ve known and personally spoken with each congressman who has served here — Tuck, Daniels, Wampler, Boucher — the only exception is Rep. Morgan Griffith.
I would’ve gladly talked to Griffith, too, but despite my appointments in the Carroll, Wise, Lee and Scott county-seat towns and my ever-lengthening retirement years in Grayson County, I’ve never met, or even seen, Congressman Griffith.

Delayed light bills keep those on cooling assistance from getting their benefits.
The cut-off on Social Services accepting light bills is Aug. 14. Anyone who receives his or her light bill after the 15th will not be paid.
Social Services should extend their cut-off date to benefit those entitled to it.
If you aren’t getting this benefit, call your caseworker. They should know how many haven’t received their cooling assistance because of this discrepancy and you can file an appeal.

glected for too long.
Our Main Streets are lined with empty stores. Two hospitals have closed. Young families are leaving in droves to seek employment.
Teachers are underpaid. Some schools have buckets in classrooms to catch the water from leaking roofs.
Bridges and culverts are deemed the worst in Virginia. Broadband is still not available in many rural areas. Our power grid is outdated. Some schools lack air conditioning, forcing cancellation of classes on hot days.
Many small communities are beginning to look like ghost towns.

A few days ago, a woman who saw the Flaccavento for Congress T-shirt I was wearing stopped to say she’s a conservative Republican and is voting for Anthony Flaccavento.
She said, “He’s a farmer, like me, and he supports the issues I support and I’m tired of Morgan Griffith never being here!”

The concentrated financial influence of special interests in politics is the number one problem our nation faces and the survival of American democracy is on the line.
A majority of Americans — Democratic, Republican and independent — are tired of unlimited spending from corporations and special interests in our elections. In fact, 80 percent of citizens support initiatives to limit corporate campaign contributions, thus bringing back power to the people.

Corporations and special interest groups have lavished untold amounts of money on the vast majority of those men and women we send to Congress to represent us, in effect, purchasing their influence when considering legislation. Both Democrats and Republicans are guilty. Many of the bills, which eventually become law, are now written by special interest lobbyists. We the people are not being equally represented.